Stacking device.



E. E. LANE.

STACKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 7, 1913.

1,173,1 15. PaIenIed Feb.v22,1916.

s? f I 1HE COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH co., WASHINGTQN. D. E.

ELMER E. LANE, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG'rNOR` TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

s'rAcKING DEVICE.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

Application filed November 7, 1913. Serial N o. 799,675.

10 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ELMnn E. LANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stacking Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.-

The present invention relates to stacking devices.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for stacking or alining blanks or other articles for their easy and convenient manipulation, and more particularly for the purpose of facilitating the insertion of a stack or pile of blanks or other articles in acontainer or holder.

To the above ends the present invention consists, generally speaking, of a stacking or alining device for positioning blanks or other articles with their edges in line and with the body or face of the blanks or articles obliquely disposed Vto the alined edges, whereby the width of the stack or series of blanks is made less than the width of a single blank, so that the stack `or series may be easily inserted in a container or holder or passed through an opening of less width than the width of an individual blank or article.

In the accompanying drawings the present invention is shown as embodied in a device for stacking or alining box toe blanks for use in connection with the skiving machine shown and described in my pending application Serial No. 685,177, filed March 21, 1912, in which machine a guideway or magazine for the blanks is provided. The rear face of this guideway or magazine is open,-but to a width less than the width of the blanks, so thatl it has heretofore `been necessary when it was desired to insert a pile or stack of blanks to withdraw the follower entirely from the guideway before the blanks could be inserted. By the use of my improved stacking device, however, it is only necessary to move the follower away from the uppermost blank a little greater distance than the height of the pile or stack of blanks to be inserted, the stack being passed directly through the opening in the side of the plained.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate what is considered the preferred form of the invention, Figure l is a top plan. view of my improved blank stacking device; Fig. 2 is a perspective of the same; and Fig. 3 is an end view looking from the left of Fig. l.

The improved stacking device illustrated in the drawings comprises a base 1, the top surface of which is concave, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Along one marginal edge of the base is the wall or abutment 2, the inner face of which, 3, is inclined inwardly over the base. Located at one end of the base is the gate or plate 4, having an ear or hub 5 through which passes the headed screw 6, the lower end of which is threaded into the boss 7 extending from the base adjacent the abutment 2. The screw 6 normally holds the plate 4 in a ixed position. Upon loosening the screw, however, the plate may be adj Listed to any desired angular position, and then, by tightening the screw, securely held therein.

The specific construction of blank stacking device shown in these drawings is designed for use in connection with the skiving machine referred to in my above mentioned application, and preferably the device is rigidly secured upon the table of said machine by means of screws passing through the apertures 8 in the base.

The mode of operation of my improved stacking device as designed to handle box toe blanks is as follows: The gate or plate +L having been adjusted to the proper degree of Obliquity with respect to the abutment 2, depending upon the size and shape of the blank to be skived and the width of the space in the guideway of the machine through which the blanks are to be inserted, the blanks are placed edgewise in the stacking device with what is the rear edge of the box toe when incorporated in the finished shoe (but the front edge of the blank as fed into the machine), resting upon the base. The radius of curvature of the concave upper surface of the base is preferably slightly less than the radius of curvature of any blank to be stacked, so that the blank will be supported at two points only along this edge, as shown by the dotted blank in guideway, as hereinafter ex- Fig. 3. The side edge of the blank is held in close engagement with the overhanging face 3 of the abutment 2, thus bringing the edges of the blanks all in line. rlhe face of the right-hand blank of the series as shown in Fig. 1 is engaged by the oblique plate Li, so that this blank and all the others of the series or stack are positioned obliquely with respect to the abiiltment. Afterthe desired number of blanks has been alined in the stacking device they are removed by hand, and while still maintained in the same relative position are tipped up until the stack is vertical, and then inserted in the magazine or guideway of the machine through the opening in the side of said guideway, the follower having been raised a suilicient distance to permit the insertion of the stack of blanks. lVhen the inserted stack of blanks is lowered into contact with the uppermost of the blanks still remaining in the guideway, each blank will turn from its oblique or inclined position to a horizontal position, and will then extend entirely across the guideway, where they will be securely retained.

While the construction shownv in the drawings and described in the specification is specifically designed for use upon box toe blanks in connection with the skiving machine of my above described application, my invention is not limited thereto, but may be embodied in other forms and arrangements and adapted for stacking or alining counters or other blanks or articles for the purpose of easy manipulation of the same.

Having thus described the present invention and the manner of constructing and using the same, what is claimed is:

1. A stacking device for alining blanks or other articles, having, in combination, means for supporting the series of blanks, a guide engaging one edge of each blank to aline the series, and means adjustable by the operator for positioning the blanks obliquely to the alined edge whereby the width of a stack of blanks is made less than the width of a single blank, substantially as described.

A stacking device for alining blanks or other articles, having, in combination,means for engaging the edge of each blank at a v plurality of points to aline the blanks, and

substantially as described.

8. A stacking device for alining blanks or .other articles, having, in combination, a

base with a concave upper face to support one edge of the blanks, and an overhanging abutment along the side of the base to engage auother edge of the blanks, and an end plate arranged to engage the face of a blank to position the blanks obliquely to the abutment, whereby the width of the stack of blanks is made less than the width of a single blank, substantially as described.

4. A stacking device for alining blanks or other articles, having, in combination, a base and a pair of gages having their guiding faces obliquely disposed with relation to one another and carried by the base, one of said gages contacting with a single blank, and the other contacting with the series of blanks whereby the width of the stack of blanks is made less than the widthof a single blank, substantially as described'.

5. A stacking device for alining blanks or other articles, having, in combination, a base for supporting the series of blanks along one edge, said base being provided on one side only with a guide for engaging another edge of the blanks adjacent the base, and means carried by the base in normally fixed position and obliquely disposed with relation to the guide for engaging the tace of a blank whereby the width of the stack of blanks is made less than the width of a single blank, substantially as described.

6. A stacking device for alining blanks or other articles, having, in combination,

means engaging the edge of eachblank fory alining the blanks, and devices Jfor positioning the blanks obliquely to the alining means, whereby the width of the stack of blanks is made less than the width of a single blank, substantially as described.

. ELMER E. LANE.

Vitnesses ALFRED H. HILDRETH, MAY A. HURLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

